A 5 page research paper investigating the effects of drug therapy compared to psycho-therapeutic intervention. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, physicians continue to treat depression with meditations rather than referring their patients to therapy. Numerous research studies have consistently revealed that specific models of therapeutic interventions are more effective in treating depression. Cognitive behavioral interventions have been the most successful in treating this condition that affects more than 50% of the population at some point in their lives. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_Deptreat.doc
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
moment in time and that as many as 55% of the population will experience bouts of depression at some point in their lives. These statistics make depression the most prevalent
psychological condition in our country (Kessler, et.al., 1994, p. 8). The overwhelming majority of depression cases are not due to physical conditions but to psychological states. Even in the face
of these data, depression is still typically viewed as a medical problem and treated with drugs (Antonuccio, Danton and DeNelsky, 1995). There
is a better way: psychotherapy, which has been shown over the years to be effective in treating depressive disorders. There are at least three reasons therapy is a better alternative:
first, there are not side-effects such as those caused by psychotropic drugs; second, depression is a mental illness not a medical illness, thus psychotherapy is the appropriate treatment; and third,
because it is less costly in the long run. Physicians prescribe antidepressants by the hundreds of thousands each day; the most commonly
prescribed drugs today are Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Luvox. While these drugs have been shown to have positive effects on the patient, they do not come without negative side-effects, the
most common being dry mouth. Other side effects can include sleeplessness, headaches and loss of appetite, although more patients complain of having a cotton-mouth (Editors, 1996). Despite the overwhelming evidence
that medical causes for the depression is found in very few cases, physicians still fail to refer their patients to therapy, preferring instead to attempt a "quick fix" with drugs
which simply mask the symptoms. According the a meta-analysis of the research available by the American Psychological Association, the use of medication without concomitant therapy should be the last choice